“Very nice to have you join us, ma’am,” he said and extended his
hand.

She blanched, the smile fading from her eyes and her lips. She
turned a glare on her father. “Foreman? Of
this ranch?”

Matt tried to hide a smirk, a bit of satisfaction curling in his
chest at her obvious discomfort. What the heck, why not make her squirm a
little bit more? “Yes ma’am, that’s what he said. Foreman. Of this ranch.”

She seemed immobilized by shock as she looked between him and her
father.

“Best damned foreman I’ve ever had, too!” Jesse chimed in, seeming
not to even recognize her aggravation. “He could run this place without me.”

“Oh, well now, boss man, I wouldn’t go that far. This job wouldn’t
be near as much fun without you.”

Anger burned red on her cheeks, and she turned to glare at Jesse.
“Damn it, don’t you know—”

“Ally-cat, don’t you start on me. I run this ranch the way I see
fit. I’ll always accept your business advice when it comes to the books, but it
ends there.”

“But Daddy—”

“No. Don’t you ‘but Daddy’ me. I make the decisions on this ranch.
I may be old but I’m not dead, not yet anyway.”

“Don’t talk like that. You won’t be going anywhere for a long time
yet.” Ally’s voice softened and her shoulders sagged.

“Glad you think so, Ally-cat.” Jesse patted a spot next to him on
the couch. ”Come sit with me while Maribella whips up something for us to eat.”

He angled toward the hallway leading to his room, sensing her gaze
following his movement, and assumed she would prefer if he cleaned up, ate, and
slept in the bunkhouse with the other hands for the night. However, he wouldn’t
be doing any of the sort. Jesse had given him a bedroom upstairs in the
sprawling home, conveniently overlooking the barns, bunkhouse, and
outbuildings, and he intended to use it same as always, especially if it pissed
her off.